About 40 professionals from the Pacific island countries of Fiji and Samoa will gather in Lami, Fiji for a three day training focusing on disaster recovery planning.

The training, organized by the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), the International Recovery Platform (IRP) and supported by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) , is part of the EU-funded Pacific project of "Strengthening Region based Capacities in Pre-Disaster Recovery Planning", a UNDP release said on Tuesday.

According to the release, the training aims to build the skills of a group of professionals oriented towards resilient recovery and enhance their capacity to minimize the impact of future disasters.

It also hopes to strengthen partnerships and improve knowledge in managing recovery programs, and share lessons learned from prior global/regional and national experiences.

The UNDP Resident Representative and UN Resident Coordinator Knut Ostby will deliver closing remarks on Friday.

Pacific countries recognize the importance of planning for and dealing with natural disasters and have developed several strategies to deal with the issue according to a paper prepared by the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat.

At the regional level, the Pacific Disaster Risk Reduction and Disaster Management Framework for Action 2005 2015 (Madang Framework) outlines the major policy imperatives needed in the region to support the management of disaster.

This regional framework was approved by Pacific Forum Islands leaders in 2005.

Additionally, the Pacific Plan, which is the overarching strategic development policy document for the Pacific region, emphasizes the need for improved disaster risk management practices and policies to enhance sustainable development.

The tsunami that hit Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga in late September 2009 is a distressing reminder that the Pacific is one of the most natural disaster prone regions of the world.

According to the World Bank, Pacific island countries have reported 207 disaster events, affecting almost 3.5 million people and costing in excess of $6.5 billion since the 1950s.

During disaster years, Samoa reported average economic disaster costs of 46 percent of annual GDP, while Fiji incurred an estimated 20 million Fiji dollars ($11.4 million) per year on average in losses from the cyclones and storms over 1972- 2004.